Mapping The Drowning Eyes

To mark the publication this week of a new fantasy novella, The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster, the artist hired to create the map, Tim Paul, wrote an essay on how he did it. I’m struck by the lengths he took to “avoid making the map look too European” and by the careful consideration of what a map from that world should look like, which is almost unheard of in the fantasy map business, where maps invariably conform to a very specific style. The end result is a map that evokes portolan charts, replete with windrose lines and looking like it was drawn on vellum. As fantasy maps go, it’s one of the finer executions I’ve seen.

About The Map Room

The Map Room is a blog about maps by Jonathan Crowe that covers everything from antique map collecting to the latest in geospatial technology. First launched in 2003, it returned in 2016 after a 4½-year hiatus. More about The Map Room.